Appearing last night on Greta Van Susteren’s show “On the Record,” Congressman Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) (R-TX2) had serious questions about the Obama administration’s release of hundreds of illegal immigrant detainees. The administration announced on Tuesday that it did not have the funding to keep the detainees incarcerated because of sequester cuts due to kick in on Friday. Poe described this release as a “government organized jail break.”

During the interview, Poe questioned of the legality of the release: “Normally when somebody is put in jail, it takes a judge to put them in jail, and a judge to let them out, not some jailer automatically letting them go.” Additional points of concern were the release of these detainees PRIOR to the actual sequester cuts taking effect and the likelihood of these detainees returning for their subsequent hearings.

Congressman Poe, Vice Chairman of the Immigration and Border Security committee and Chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, sent a letter to DHS Secretary Napolitano with a list of questions he wants answered. He has also called for House Judiciary hearings on the release. (letters below)

Poe’s letter to Secretary Napolitano asks for answers to numerous questions, including who authorized the release of the detainees and under what legal authority did that person do so; how many individual were released and what crimes had they committed; and what percentage of ICE detainees who are released from detention return for their subsequent hearings.